A delicious Syrian inspired dish of sweet peppers stuffed with spiced rice and beans and cooked in a sharp tomato sauce. It's cooked on the stove top for speed, but could be done in the oven instead.
400gtinned adzuki beansdrained and rinsed - or 125g dried and then cooked
½tspground cumin
¼tspground cinnamon
grating of nutmeg
¼tspsea salt
good grinding of black pepper
4sprigsfresh parsleyfinely chopped
4sprigs mintfinely chopped
2large sweet peppershalved, in any way you like and deseeded (I used romano red peppers)
Tomato Sauce
1tbspolive oilextra virgin
1onionfinely chopped
1clovegarlicfinely chopped
400gtinned chopped tomatoes
200mlred wine
200mlwater
1pinchsea salt
1tspAleppo chilli flakes(or swap for smoked paprika)
Instructions
In a medium sized pan, fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil over a gentle heat for around five minutes, until translucent.
2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, 1 clove garlic
Add the rice and cardamom pods, then stir to coat the grains. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
125 g brown basmati rice, 2 cardamom pods
Add the ¼ tsp salt, pepper and spices then stir.
½ tsp ground cumin, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp sea salt, good grinding of black pepper, grating of nutmeg
Cover the rice with twice it's volume of water. Bring to the boil and cover and simmer for 20 mins. Turn the heat off, add the beans and herbs, then leave covered to steam for a further 10 minutes. Stir and fluff up with a fork.
400 g tinned adzuki beans, 4 sprigs fresh parsley, 4 sprigs mint
Pile the rice onto or into the peppers.
2 large sweet peppers
Lay the stuffed peppers in the pan of tomato sauce. Bring the to a simmer then cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the peppers are soft and the sauce is thick.
Serve with any remaining rice mixture and greens of choice.
Tomato Sauce
In a large lidded frying pan, fry the onion and garlic in olive oil over a gentle heat for five minutes or so until translucent.
1 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, 1 clove garlic
Add the tomatoes. Rinse the tin out with the wine and water and stir in with the chilli and pinch of salt.
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes, 200 ml red wine, 200 ml water, 1 pinch sea salt, 1 tsp Aleppo chilli flakes
Notes
You can substitute bell peppers for Romano peppers.Can be cooked in the oven rather than on the stove top if preferred.Swap the wine for more water, but squeeze in the juice of half a lemon instead. Alternatively add 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses.Top Tip Use the tomato tin to measure water and wine, this also washes out any residual bits of tomato and juice.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.